New Delhi: The much-delayed Delhi mayoral ballot will be held on February 22 as Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena gave his nod on Saturday to convene the Municipal House, a day after a Supreme Court order paved the best way for the election. The LG’s nod to convene the MCD House got here hours after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal beneficial to him that the mayoral election be held on the stated date.
“Recommended MCD mayor elections to be held on 22 Feb,” Kejriwal stated in a tweet earlier within the day.
Recommended MCD Mayor elections to be held on 22 Feb
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 18, 2023
The growth got here a day after the highest courtroom ordered the issuance of a discover inside 24 hours for convening the primary assembly of the civic physique to repair the date of the elections for the mayor, the deputy mayor and the members of the standing committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
In a shot within the arm for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the apex courtroom additionally held on Friday that the members nominated by the LG to the MCD can not vote to elect the mayor.
Officials on the Raj Niwas and the MCD stated the LG has given his nod to convene the House and maintain the mayoral ballot on February 22.
“In exercise of powers conferred upon him under section 73 of the DMC Act, 1957, the Administrator, Hon’ble Lt Governor of NCT of Delhi, has refixed the adjourned first meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Wednesday, the 22nd of February, 2023,” learn a discover issued by the civic physique on Saturday.
The elections of the mayor, deputy mayor and 6 members of the standing committee will happen on the assembly and the agenda will stay the identical, it stated.
A senior MCD official stated three conferences of the House that have been scheduled to be held on January 6, January 24, and February 6 have been adjourned.
Delhi is about to get its new mayor subsequent week after the three failed makes an attempt of the MCD to maintain the mayoral ballot and far political bickering.
Hearing a plea moved by the AAP’s mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi, who sought early conduct of the election, a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala directed on Friday that the mayoral ballot shall be performed on the first MCD meet and as soon as elected, the mayor shall preside over the deputy mayor’s election.
The AAP had emerged as a transparent winner within the MCD polls held on December 4, bagging 134 wards and ending the BJP’s 15-year rule within the civic physique. The saffron celebration received 104 wards to end second, whereas the Congress received 9 seats within the 250-member Municipal House.
According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected on the very first session of the House after the civic polls.
However, it has been greater than two months for the reason that municipal polls have been held and town is but to get a mayor.
The municipal House has witnessed unprecedented developments since January 6, when it was convened for the primary time after the civic polls. The House was adjourned following acrimonious exchanges between the members of the BJP and the AAP.
The second assembly of the House on January 24 was briefly adjourned after the oath-taking ceremony and subsequently, adjourned until the subsequent date by pro-tem presiding officer and BJP councillor Satya Sharma.
The adjournment had prompted councillors, 13 MLAs and three Rajya Sabha members of the AAP to sit on a “dharna” for practically 5 hours within the chambers of the House — Aruna Asaf Ali Sabhagar — on the Civic Centre, demanding quick holding of the mayoral ballot.
Both the BJP and the AAP members had held one another accountable for the derailment of the proceedings.
The Municipal House in Delhi was convened once more on February 6 as town hoped to get a mayor after a lot delay.
But it failed to elect a mayor for the third time, following a ruckus over the choice to enable the aldermen to vote within the mayoral ballot, even because the AAP alleged a “planned conspiracy” by the BJP to stall the method and stated it could transfer the Supreme Court to search a “court-monitored” election.
Oberoi moved the apex courtroom on February 7.
The courtroom had, on February 8, sought the responses of the LG’s workplace, Sharma and others on her plea.
The AAP had alleged on February 6 that the mayoral ballot couldn’t be held because the BJP was “strangulating democracy and the Constitution”, whereas the saffron celebration accused it of developing with excuses to stall the election.
Sharma had additionally introduced that the elections for the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members will be held concurrently, triggering protests from the AAP members, following which she had adjourned the House for a 3rd consecutive time.
The AAP leaders had additionally stated the LG ought to be certain that the mayoral ballot is performed with none hindrance.
As the matter reached the courtroom, a hopeful AAP was anticipating that its demand for a “court-monitored” election would be fulfilled.
Kejriwal on Friday hailed the highest courtroom’s order on the mayoral ballot, saying it was a “victory of democracy”, and claimed that it had proved that the LG and the BJP have been passing “illegal and unconstitutional orders”.
On Saturday, the chief minister accused the LG of “forcibly” attempting to stop town authorities from presenting its views earlier than the highest courtroom.
Addressing a press convention right here, he alleged that Saxena tried to “interfere in the administration of justice” and dedicated “contempt of court”.
No response was instantly obtainable from the LG’s workplace to the claims and allegations made by the AAP nationwide convenor.
The AAP had vociferously opposed the nomination of 10 aldermen by the LG and Sharma’s determination to give them the proper to vote to elect the mayor, the deputy mayor and the standing committee members.
Kejriwal stated the Supreme Court foiled the “conspiracy” hatched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the LG to affect the mayoral ballot and asserted that Oberoi will win the election for the reason that AAP has the bulk within the MCD.
The AAP staged a protest outdoors the LG’s residence on Saturday morning, demanding his resignation for allegedly supporting the “BJP’s hooliganism” and delaying the mayoral ballot.
Several AAP leaders, together with MLAs Atishi and Durgesh Pathak, assembled at Raj Niwas Marg with banners and raised slogans demanding the LG’s resignation.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor stated the saffron celebration welcomes the fixing of the date for the elections of the mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members.
“We hope that the AAP will allow these three elections to be held on February 22,” he stated whereas claiming that they’ve “information” that the ruling celebration in Delhi will disrupt the proceedings of the House after the mayoral ballot.
The chief minister ought to commit that as within the MCD’s earlier time period from 2017 to 2022, the aldermen “shall continue to have the right to vote in zonal committees”, Kapoor stated.
